During the Great Depression, African Americans turned to strategies like throwing rent parties to raise the money necessary to prevent eviction. Langston Hughes recalled a Harlem rent party. When you attended a rent party most of the time you had no clue whose apartment it was. For a small entry fee you could enjoy live music and dancing, and for very little purchase bootleg whiskey, fried fish, chitterlings, greens, and desert. On my first night in town, I went to a rent party where I had an incredible slice of blueberry pie.
Blueberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold butter
6-8 tablespoons ice-cold water
For the Filling:
2½ cups fresh blueberries
½ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
Prepare the Pie Crust:
Sift together flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in cold butter using a pastry blender or two knives, leaving pieces about the size of small peas. Sprinkle ice water over the mixture, using as little as possible (start with 6 tablespoons). Mix lightly with a fork until dough just comes together. Form into a ball and chill for at least 30 minutes. Roll out dough to make two crusts for the pie.
Assemble and Bake:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a deep pie pan with the bottom pastry crust. In a bowl, gently mix blueberries, flour, sugar, and salt. Pour the blueberry mixture into the prepared pie crust. Cover with the top pastry crust and seal edges. Cut several small vents in the top crust. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until the crust is delicately browned and filling is bubbling.
Crosby Gaige, New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen, (Garden City, New York DoubleDay, Doran and Company Inc., Country Life, First Edition, Press,1939)
